The arrival of Micah Richards suggests that Sherwood is making plans for the new season without ‘Concrete’ as part of the foundations.

The future of Phillipe Senderos is also up in the air and Nathan Baker has been injury prone over the last few seasons.

Clark has impressed the fans by overcoming earlier inconsistencies in his game and despite Villa languishing in the bowels of the Premier League, his performances have tended to be calm and assured.

Villa missed his presence at the end of the season due to a knee injury which saw the influential youngster ruled out of Villa’s dramatic close to the 2014/2015 campaign.

Ciaran Clark - 6.4

Prior to that injury his form had been impressive, his stats reveal that he was successful in 68% of his challenges, having completed 200 clearances, 23 blocks and 48 interceptions.

Those are pretty polished stats for the 25-year-old centre-half, especially when compared with his team-mate Vlaar.

The experienced Dutchman has a tackling average of 55.3%, has made 116 clearances, 9 blocks and 41 interceptions.

Clark has just 12 months left on his contract and the interest from neighbours West Brom highlights the fact that the club need to secure his future.

The player’s 10 bookings and a red card last season don’t seem to have had a detrimental effect with new boss Sherwood.

Clark has matured as a player, his determination and no-nonsense approach are indicative that he is no longer the new kid on the block at Villa Park and that’s something he credits the return of Assistant Manager Kevin MacDonald as contributing towards.

Clark said: "Kev has been brilliant. All the lads enjoy working with him and, of course, some of us know him from when he was here in the past.

Aston Villa's Brad Guzan and Ciaran Clark in action

"Everyone was excited to see him come back and we're delighted he's here working with us now.

"I can't speak highly enough of Kevin. He helped bring me through the system and also was the one who gave me my first real run in the team when he was caretaker manager after Martin O'Neill left.

"He's a top guy. He's a top coach. He knows all about the club - what this club means - and I think he's been a great addition to the backroom staff.”

"Personally, I owe him a lot. When I'm retired and looking back at my time in the game he's definitely one of the people I will remember - as well as Tony McAndrew and Gordon Cowans too.

"When I was coming through, they were real role models, tough taskmasters - but they always had our best interests at heart."